A heavy downpour on Tuesday morning brought a much-needed relief from the stuffy weather that had made life difficult for the people of Kashmir in the last four to five days across the Kashmir valley. Although the heavy rain did lead to flooding in the streets and roads in many parts of the city and the rest of Kashmir everyone though welcomed the coolness in the air brought on by the rains.
Director MeT department Sonam Lotus took to Facebook and said: “There is significant decrease in rainfall now and more improvement is expected as the day progresses,” he said and two to three hours of rain after a week of dry weather won’t lead to flooding. “So go out and enjoy this monsoon rain over a cup of tea and discuss something good.”
Lotus said there could be water logging in low lying areas, landslides and flash flood in hilly areas. He said during next 24hrs the sky will be generally cloudy with rain in spells mainly during morning hours.
MeT officials said that Srinagar recorded 44mm of rainfall, Qazigund 60mm, Phalgam 13mm, Kokernag 5mm, Jammu 39mm, Banihal 20mm, Batote 61mm, Katra 52mm, Bhaderwah 35mm, Leh trace, Kargil 0mm and Udhampur 52mm of rainfall.
The rains triggered a sort of crisis in Srinagar city as water logging impacted the routine movement. Apart from low lying areas that usually witness serious problems during rains, the areas that suffered heavily including the Regal Chowk – Lal Chowk belt, and even the Boulevard where the water level was reported to be around 3 ft. The water logging caused a long traffic jam and hardships to pedestrians.
The officials ruled out the possibility of any flood like situation. The water level at many places of the main Jhelum River is abysmally low. The gauge reading of Jhelum at 9 am at Sangam was 1.33 ft, Ram Munshi Bagh 3.10, and Asham 2.58. These three spots are key to the gauge of Kashmir’s main river. Even the Jhelum’s tributaries are not reported any adverse situation. The Irrigation and Flood Control officials put the level of Vishaw Nallah at Khudwani at 2.15 m, Rambiyara Nallah at Wachi at – (minus) 0.01 m, and Lidder Nallah at Batakote 0.65 m.
Rains bring cheer to a stuffy Kashmir causing water logging, traffic snarls
